Body armor systems, including vests worn by law enforcement officers, use Kevlar.RTM. or similar fibers, which are coated in plastic, as a projectile-resistant shield. The plastic coating is necessary to assure the safe performance of the vest, but makes the garment hot and uncomfortable to wear. This, in turn, decreases the mobility and, thus, the efficiency of the officers who wear them and acts as a deterrent to using the body armor and as a result, increases officer casualties. There have been several attempts to provide a more comfortable protective garment. For example, Parrish et al (U.S. Pat. No. 5,113,666), teach a cooling device that can be incorporated into a person's apparel to permit the transfer of water vapor from the wearer's skin. Parrish et al (U.S. Pat. No. 5,111,668), a continuation-in-part of U.S. Patent U.S. Pat. No. 5,113,666, teach a sealed garment containing a working fluid in an evaporation section of the garment, vaporization occurring by heat generated from the person wearing the garment. Parrish et al (U.S. Pat. No. 5,289,695), a divisional of U.S. Pat. No. 5,111,668, teach cooling devices such as vests, pads or patches used in garments, including space suits, sealed hazardous material suits, and/or vests. All of these embodiments comprise of a desiccant layer which is utilized in the storage of the water vapor resulting from the evaporation process. In the present invention, however, the water vapor resulting from the evaporation process is discharged to the environment thus alleviating the requirement of storage and decreasing the weight and size of the cooling apparatus.
Other examples may also be found in Scaringe et al (U.S. Pat. No. 4,856,294), Szczesuil et al (U.S. Pat. No. 5,320,164), Faghri (U.S. Pat. No. 5,269,369), Garner (U.S. Pat. No. 5,818,693), Koon et al (U.S. Pat. No. 5,898,570), Coulon et al (U.S. Pat. No. 4,852,645), Buckley (U.S. Pat. No. 5,722,482), and Benson (U.S. Pat. No. 4,572,864), which are hereby incorporated by reference.
These cooling systems, however, remain heavy and uncomfortable to the wearer. Therefore, there remains room in the art for a portable, lightweight, thin, and flexible garment which will provide more comfortable thermal conditions under the armor vest (or similar vest type garments) and would induce people to wear them as necessary, and thereby reduce the occurrence of preventable injuries and fatalities.